Against the Gods

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

The last two Southern Sea divine origins could last him for another four breaths at best.

Even if the duration was ten or even a hundred times longer, his body would not last that long.

Already, there wasn't a single part in his body that was in good condition. If he was anyone else, he would be dead already.

The final boulder formation was being devoured little by little, but to shatter it in four breaths… it was just impossible.

His clenched teeth relaxed, and the rampaging emotions behind his black eyes gradually melted into a deep pool of darkness.

Qingyue, I want so badly to cherish everything you've left behind for me.

But in the end, I…

His Heretic God Profound Veins began shaking violently. Crimson patterns began emerging one after another.

With my flesh and blood… Other Shore Asura!

A long time ago at the Star God Realm, he had willingly transformed into the Asura in order to save Jasmine from certain death. In the end, he was able to revive in an incomplete state thanks to the phoenix's Flame of Nirvana.

This time though, there would be no coming back. The moment he transformed into the Asura was the moment he died.

Right before he was about to activate the Heretic God's forbidden power, a ray of pure gold pierced through his eyes and traveled straight into his soul. It dyed not just the world, but his soul sea in crimson gold.

A crow's cry rang true beside his ears.

He was most familiar with the Golden Crow's cry, of course. However, the power, aura, and sharpness behind it… surpassed every cry he had ever heard in his life.

Even the Golden Crow blood in his body had boiled up in an instant.

He didn't look back, but the all-encompassing image of a Golden Crow had appeared in Yun Che's soul sea.

At the God Realm of Absolute Beginning, all that was living raised their heads…

And stared at the one and only image of the Golden Crow.

Its golden wings burned space and drew long, golden cracks as they spread wide open. It let out a shrill, mournful cry before crashing toward Mo Beichen.

............

In ancient times, the Vermillion Bird, the Phoenix, and the Golden Crow were the three supreme masters of fire.

Each of them possessed an ultimate flame that could only be burned once in their lives.

They are:

Vermillion Redemption,

Phoenix Nirvana,

And Golden Crow Shattered Jade!

The Flame of Redemption and Flame of Nirvana were flames that burned after the Vermillion Bird and the Phoenix had died. But that wasn't the case for the Golden Crow.

The Golden Crow's flame was only matched by its temper. Its ultimate flame was the same. It was a flame of destruction where the Golden Crow sacrificed itself to kill its enemy.

Death was preferable to dishonor.

The Vermillion Bird's Flame of Redemption was forever gone from this world. It would never appear again.

The Phoenix's Flame of Nirvana had once burned for Yun Che, but it was a gift from the Phoenix Spirit and not a product of his own phoenix bloodline and soul. As a result, it was incredibly weak and incomplete. Although it was still able to achieve a rebirth, it only saved Yun Che's life but not his cultivation.

Feng Xue'er could have ignited the true Flame of Nirvana, but the flame had already been used up by Yun Che.

Therefore, she would not be able to come back to life even though she possessed the complete Phoenix inheritance.

In other words, the Flame of Nirvana was gone forever from this world as well.

To date, the only ultimate flame still remaining in this world was the one engraved in Huo Poyun's Golden Crow bloodline.

And just now, it had been ignited for the first and last time.

............

The entire world was encompassed by the Golden Crow's final cry and light.

Even Yun Che's Golden Crow Manifested God was completely overwhelmed.

The divine power that descended from above was greater than the Half-God Mo Beichen, greater than the unstable form Cang Shitian achieved with the ultimate sacrifice, and greater than Yun Che in God Ash.

Huo Poyun was nowhere to be seen in the world of golden flames. However, they all knew with absolute certainty that the presence and divine cry belonged to none other than the ancient True God, the Golden Crow!

Mo Beichen could only stare blankly as the divine beast that seemingly appeared from an ancient illusionary realm grew closer and closer. His pupils were fully dilated, and his mouth was opened wide.

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He could not make a sound even after the Golden Crow's image had completely dominated his vision.

It was because the bright, golden flames were accompanied by a terrible soul pressure that utterly crushed his soul.

RUMBUZZ—

The crow let out one last cry of boundless might and mournful determination before landing on Mo Beichen's torso. The next instant, the Flame of Jade Shatter engulfed everything.

All of the world was golden flames.

Outside the battlefield, the spectators stared at the sky like mindless zombies.

It was because what they were seeing could only be described as the descent of the true sun!

However, only a handful of them knew that the falling sun was the final miracle of the Golden Crow True God, and… the end of one of the greatest geniuses in the world. A genius who, in spite of the limitless future ahead of him, chose death.

"UAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!"

Mo Beichen's bloodcurdling screams and Cang Shitian's mad laughter mingled together amidst the sea of golden flames.

The Flame of Shattered Jade burned everything equally—or it should have, but not a hair on Yun Che's body was harmed.

Like solid ice basking in the midday sun, Mo Beichen's boulder formation melted at a visible rate beneath the sea of flames.

The cracks surrounding the tip of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword also spread faster than ever before.

Chiang!

Another Southern Sea divine origin crumbled to dust.

He only had one divine origin left to support him now.

Mind and strength reforming and hitting their peak in an instant, Yun Che ignored the blood jetting out of his eyeballs like many mini fountains, crushed all the teeth in his mouth in an instant, and howled like the most brutal wraith in the pits of hell.

As it turned out, miracle begets miracle.

Somehow, he was able to tap into a surge of power greater than nearly everything he had mustered until this point despite his depleted and near collapsed body.

"DIE!"

"DIE!!"

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

There was a corner in his soul that was cold and dead for the longest time, and Huo Poyun had brought it back to life with the Flame of Shattered Jade that he fueled with his life.

He roared at Mo Beichen with everything he had.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword responded to his absolute rage by digging even harder toward Mo Beichen's solar plexus.

Cang Shitian's crumbling body was being swiftly consumed by the flames, but he never stopped locking Mo Beichen in place so that the Half-God would not be able to escape Yun Che's attack or the sea of flames.

Yun Che's God Ash, Cang Shitian's body lock, and Huo Poyun's Flame of Shattered Jade. Finally…

Bang—

There was a crisp noise that sounded like breaking glass pierced through the air, and the third boulder formation… finally shattered beneath Yun Che's sword.

The world in Yun Che's eyes suddenly slowed down infinitesimally. He could see every strand of profound energy scattering and dispersing from the broken boulder formation.

For the longest time, the yellowish brown light was nothing but the light of despair that Mo Beichen had shone on them, but now… it was the light of miracle.

Mo Beichen had been putting all of his profound energy into the boulder formations. He did not spare even an ounce of strength to coat his physical body in a sheen of protective aura.

In other words, he was completely defenseless after his last boulder formation was destroyed.

Mo Beichen's world had become just as slow as Yun Che's as well. He reflexively sucked in his abdomen in a futile attempt to avoid Yun Che's blade, but he could only watch as the burning blade pierced through the shattered boulder formation, touched the skin on his solar plexus…

And went in without resistance.

The tip, the blade… the sword didn't stop until it was completely through his body.

Finally, he came eye to eye with Yun Che's boiling, black eyes.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword had impaled Mo Beichen completely. Naturally, Cang Shitian was impaled with it.

"HE LING!!"

Yun Che roared within his depleted soul sea.

It was unnecessary, really.

The Sky Poison Spirit had been preparing and waiting for this very moment since the beginning.

The instant the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword had impaled Mo Beichen, the image of a young woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

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She was as beautiful as an elf. She had long, emerald green hair and emerald-like eyes. She looked perfectly distinct even though the world around her was completely covered in flames.

Her countenance looked serene and sacred. Arms crossed before her chest, she slowly closed her eyes before spreading them apart. An impossibly thick surge of ghastly green flowed into the blade of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword…

And exploded within Mo Beichen's internal organs.

His soul was stunned, his strength was dispersed, and the poison had been detonated inside his body… he might be a Half-God, but there was nothing even he could do to stop this.

It was as if the ghastly green had transformed into countless vipers that desired nothing more than to devour everything. It swiftly spread to his internal organs, flesh, blood, bones, profound veins…

By the time Mo Beichen regained his ability to think and channel his strength, the ghastly green had already spread to every corner, every hair of his body.

Even his golden eyes had become dyed in terrifying green.

"Ah… ahhhh…"

He felt as if millions, no, billions of vipers were cruelly tearing his body into pieces. Every limb, every organ was spasming uncontrollably from the sudden outburst of abject pain, fear, and despair. His very skin was turning greener and greener by the second. [1]

"Ah… ahh… ahhhh… no… no…"

His cries weren't loud, but there was no mistaking the absolute pain and panic behind them. It felt like he would've screamed louder if his throat wasn't constricted by billions of figurative vipers.

The pain was also accompanied by bone-deep fear.

It was because his twitching, painful soul could sense the impending march of death clearer than ever before.

He had never felt it so close even when he was cornered in the depths of the Endless Fog, or facing the deadly trials of the Pure Land.

"Ha… haha…"

Mo Beichen wasn't the only one who was hearing death's footsteps. Cang Shitian was rapidly dying as well.

However, his laughter, weak as it might be, was anything but regretful.

As his mind relaxed, the Deep Sea divine power that had been residing in his existence until this point finally faded away.

As a result, he was unable to maintain his hold on Mo Beichen any longer and fell backward in a scattering mist of blue light.

Chi Wuyao's devil soul was seriously injured during the previous attack, but her spiritual perception was still encompassing the entire battlefield. In fact, she had been sensing everything with her Nirvana Devil Emperor Soul since the start of the battle. She was the only one who could due to the level of her soul.

The golden flames were preventing her from getting a clear look at the combatants, but she could feel Cang Shitian's final consciousness slipping away into nothingness, and Mo Beichen's soul screaming in pain and despair with her perception.

That was how she knew that Yun Che had done it.

The battle wasn't over yet though. A hyena's craziest and deadliest moment was when it was at the brink of death.

"Teleport Yun Che back now, Meiyin!"

She urged Shui Meiyin with her soul voice. At the same time, the World Piercer came alight in full force.

However, Shui Meiyin did not unleash its crimson divine energy even though she had been preparing to do so since the beginning. She was unable to act even after Chi Wuyao had yelled within her soul to take action.

The problem was that the battlefield was overflowing with the power of Half-Gods. It was a level of distortion unlike anything this godless world had ever witnessed, much less withstood. They warped space, energy fields, vision and even perception like crazy, not to mention that she was super far away from Yun Che right now.

She was simply unable to determine Yun Che's spatial position on short notice.

"Ah… ahhhh… ah…"

Mo Beichen's groans grew more and more painful. As a guardian knight, he was incredibly resistant to many deadly poisons and corruption, and yet his protective energy was unable to expel the terrifying poison rampaging inside his body at all.

It was because it was the Sky Poison of the Sky Poison Pearl.

Mo Beichen felt as if he was falling toward a bottomless abyss. His despair grew deeper and deeper until finally, it all transformed into madness.

"Ah… arghhh… AHHHHH!!"

A full-throated, lung-bursting howl abruptly escaped Mo Beichen's throat. Instead of channeling his remaining energy to expel the Sky Poison, he instead conjured a mighty explosion…

BOOM—

A gigantic void instantly appeared within the weakening flames.

In that void, Cang Shitian's crumbling body broke into several pieces before further disintegrating to countless specks of blue dust…

Underneath the light of dawn, it looked like the remains of a blue star on the verge of death.

Barely clinging to consciousness, Yun Che concentrated the last of his powers in front of himself.

There was a mighty boom, and he was sent flying at space-shredding speed. It was like he was struck by the hammer of the heavens.

It was at this moment Cang Shitian's voice rang in his soul:

"Please… treat… Shuhe… well…"

The soul voice vanished, and the blue star finally passed away from this world.

His final words were no joyous laughter, no venting roar, no famous quote that would last for a thousand autumns. It was just a simple request… that was filled with infinite love and yearning.

1. (T/N: and this is how the first Hulk came to be) ?